Matius 3:7-12

3:7 But when he saw many Pharisees ¹  and Sadducees ²  coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 3:8 Therefore produce fruit ³  that proves your ⁴  repentance, 3:9 and don’t think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! 3:10 Even now the ax is laid at ⁵  the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

3:11 “I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am – I am not worthy ⁶  to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ⁷  3:12 His winnowing fork ⁸  is in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the storehouse, ⁹  but the chaff he will burn up with inextinguishable fire.” ¹⁰ 

Matius 21:31-44

21:31 Which of the two did his father’s will?” They said, “The first.” ¹¹  Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, ¹²  tax collectors ¹³  and prostitutes will go ahead of you into the kingdom of God! 21:32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe. Although ¹⁴  you saw this, you did not later change your minds ¹⁵  and believe him.

The Parable of the Tenants

21:33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner ¹⁶  who planted a vineyard. ¹⁷  He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Then ¹⁸  he leased it to tenant farmers ¹⁹  and went on a journey. 21:34 When the harvest time was near, he sent his slaves ²⁰  to the tenants to collect his portion of the crop. ²¹  21:35 But the tenants seized his slaves, beat one, ²²  killed another, and stoned another. 21:36 Again he sent other slaves, more than the first, and they treated them the same way. 21:37 Finally he sent his son to them, ²³  saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 21:38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and get his inheritance!’ 21:39 So ²⁴  they seized him, ²⁵  threw him out of the vineyard, ²⁶  and killed him. 21:40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 21:41 They said to him, “He will utterly destroy those evil men! Then he will lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his portion at the harvest.”

21:42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:

‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. ²⁷ 

This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? ²⁸ 

21:43 For this reason I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people ²⁹  who will produce its fruit. 21:44 The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.” ³⁰ 

Matius 23:13-35

23:13 “But woe to you, experts in the law ³¹  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! ³²  You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! ³³  For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in.

23:14 [[EMPTY]] ³⁴ 

23:15 “Woe to you, experts in the law ³⁵  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert, ³⁶  and when you get one, ³⁷  you make him twice as much a child of hell ³⁸  as yourselves!

23:16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple is bound by nothing. ³⁹  But whoever swears by the gold of the temple is bound by the oath.’ 23:17 Blind fools! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 23:18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing. ⁴⁰  But if anyone swears by the gift on it he is bound by the oath.’ 23:19 You are blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 23:20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 23:21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and the one who dwells in it. 23:22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and the one who sits on it.

23:23 “Woe to you, experts in the law ⁴¹  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth ⁴²  of mint, dill, and cumin, ⁴³  yet you neglect what is more important in the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You ⁴⁴  should have done these things without neglecting the others. 23:24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat yet swallow a camel! ⁴⁵ 

23:25 “Woe to you, experts in the law ⁴⁶  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 23:26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, ⁴⁷  so that the outside may become clean too!

23:27 “Woe to you, experts in the law ⁴⁸  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean. ⁴⁹  23:28 In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

23:29 “Woe to you, experts in the law ⁵⁰  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You ⁵¹  build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves ⁵²  of the righteous. 23:30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, ⁵³  we would not have participated with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 23:31 By saying this you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 23:32 Fill up then the measure of your ancestors! 23:33 You snakes, you offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? ⁵⁴ 

23:34 “For this reason I ⁵⁵  am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law, ⁵⁶  some of whom you will kill and crucify, ⁵⁷  and some you will flog ⁵⁸  in your synagogues ⁵⁹  and pursue from town to town, 23:35 so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, ⁶⁰  whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

Matius 25:10

25:10 But while they had gone to buy it, the bridegroom arrived, and those who were ready went inside with him to the wedding banquet. Then ⁶¹  the door was shut.

[3:7]  ¹ sn Pharisees were members of one of the most important and influential religious and political parties of Judaism in the time of Jesus. There were more Pharisees than Sadducees (according to Josephus, Ant. 17.2.4 [17.42] there were more than 6,000 Pharisees at about this time). Pharisees differed with Sadducees on certain doctrines and patterns of behavior. The Pharisees were strict and zealous adherents to the laws of the OT and to numerous additional traditions such as angels and bodily resurrection.

[3:7]  ² sn The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [10-11]). See also Matt 16:1-12; 22:23-34; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-38; Acts 5:17; 23:6-8.

[3:8]  ³ sn Fruit worthy of repentance refers to the deeds that indicate a change of attitude (heart) on the part of John’s hearers.

[3:8]  ⁴ tn Grk “fruit worthy of.”

[3:10]  ⁵ sn Laid at the root. That is, placed and aimed, ready to begin cutting.

[3:11]  ⁶ tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”

[3:11]  sn The humility of John is evident in the statement I am not worthy. This was considered one of the least worthy tasks of a slave, and John did not consider himself worthy to do even that for the one to come, despite the fact he himself was a prophet.

[3:11]  ⁷ sn With the Holy Spirit and fire. There are differing interpretations for this phrase regarding the number of baptisms and their nature. (1) Some see one baptism here, and this can be divided further into two options. (a) The baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire could refer to the cleansing, purifying work of the Spirit in the individual believer through salvation and sanctification, or (b) it could refer to two different results of Christ’s ministry: Some accept Christ and are baptized with the Holy Spirit, but some reject him and receive judgment. (2) Other interpreters see two baptisms here: The baptism of the Holy Spirit refers to the salvation Jesus brings at his first advent, in which believers receive the Holy Spirit, and the baptism of fire refers to the judgment Jesus will bring upon the world at his second coming. One must take into account both the image of fire and whether individual or corporate baptism is in view. A decision is not easy on either issue. The image of fire is used to refer to both eternal judgment (e.g., Matt 25:41) and the power of the Lord’s presence to purge and cleanse his people (e.g., Isa 4:4-5). The pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost, a fulfillment of this prophecy no matter which interpretation is taken, had both individual and corporate dimensions. It is possible that since Holy Spirit and fire are governed by a single preposition in Greek, the one-baptism view may be more likely, but this is not certain. Simply put, there is no consensus view in scholarship at this time on the best interpretation of this passage.

[3:12]  ⁸ sn A winnowing fork was a pitchfork-like tool used to toss threshed grain in the air so that the wind blew away the chaff, leaving the grain to fall to the ground. The note of purging is highlighted by the use of imagery involving sifting though threshed grain for the useful kernels.

[3:12]  ⁹ tn Or “granary,” “barn” (referring to a building used to store a farm’s produce rather than a building to house livestock).

[3:12]  ¹⁰ sn The image of fire that cannot be extinguished is from the OT: Job 20:26; Isa 34:8-10; 66:24.

[21:31]  ¹¹ tc Verses 29-31 involve a rather complex and difficult textual problem. The variants cluster into three different groups: (1) The first son says “no” and later has a change of heart, and the second son says “yes” but does not go. The second son is called the one who does his father’s will. This reading is found in the Western mss (D it). But the reading is so hard as to be nearly impossible. One can only suspect some tampering with the text, extreme carelessness on the part of the scribe, or possibly a recognition of the importance of not shaming one’s parent in public. (Any of these reasons is not improbable with this texttype, and with codex D in particular.) The other two major variants are more difficult to assess. Essentially, the responses make sense (the son who does his father’s will is the one who changes his mind after saying “no”): (2) The first son says “no” and later has a change of heart, and the second son says “yes” but does not go. But here, the first son is called the one who does his father’s will (unlike the Western reading). This is the reading found in (א) C L W (Z) 0102 0281 ˹ 33 Ï and several versional witnesses. (3) The first son says “yes” but does not go, and the second son says “no” but later has a change of heart. This is the reading found in B Θ Ë¹³ 700 and several versional witnesses. Both of these latter two readings make good sense and have significantly better textual support than the first reading. The real question, then, is this: Is the first son or the second the obedient one? If one were to argue simply from the parabolic logic, the second son would be seen as the obedient one (hence, the third reading). The first son would represent the Pharisees (or Jews) who claim to obey God, but do not (cf. Matt 23:3). This accords well with the parable of the prodigal son (in which the oldest son represents the unbelieving Jews). Further, the chronological sequence of the second son being obedient fits well with the real scene: Gentiles and tax collectors and prostitutes were not, collectively, God’s chosen people, but they did repent and come to God, while the Jewish leaders claimed to be obedient to God but did nothing. At the same time, the external evidence is weaker for this reading (though stronger than the first reading), not as widespread, and certainly suspect because of how neatly it fits. One suspects scribal manipulation at this point. Thus the second reading looks to be superior to the other two on both external and transcriptional grounds. But what about intrinsic evidence? One can surmise that Jesus didn’t always give predictable responses. In this instance, he may well have painted a picture in which the Pharisees saw themselves as the first son, only to stun them with his application (v. 32).

[21:31]  ¹² tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[21:31]  ¹³ sn See the note on tax collectors in 5:46.

[21:32]  ¹⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[21:32]  ¹⁵ sn The word translated change your minds is the same verb used in v. 29 (there translated had a change of heart). Jesus is making an obvious comparison here, in which the religious leaders are viewed as the disobedient son.

[21:33]  ¹⁶ tn The term here refers to the owner and manager of a household.

[21:33]  ¹⁷ sn The vineyard is a figure for Israel in the OT (Isa 5:1-7). The nation and its leaders are the tenants, so the vineyard here may well refer to the promise that resides within the nation. The imagery is like that in Rom 11:11-24.

[21:33]  ¹⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[21:33]  ¹⁹ sn The leasing of land to tenant farmers was common in this period.

[21:34]  ²⁰ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.

[21:34]  sn These slaves represent the prophets God sent to the nation, who were mistreated and rejected.

[21:34]  ²¹ tn Grk “to collect his fruits.”

[21:35]  ²² sn The image of the tenants mistreating the owner’s slaves pictures the nation’s rejection of the prophets and their message.

[21:37]  ²³ sn The owner’s decision to send his son represents God sending Jesus.

[21:39]  ²⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the tenants’ decision to kill the son in v. 38.

[21:39]  ²⁵ tn Grk “seizing him.” The participle λαβόντες (labontes) has been translated as attendant circumstance.

[21:39]  ²⁶ sn Throwing the heir out of the vineyard pictures Jesus’ death outside of Jerusalem.

[21:42]  ²⁷ tn Or “capstone,” “keystone.” Although these meanings are lexically possible, the imagery in Eph 2:20-22 and 1 Cor 3:11 indicates that the term κεφαλὴ γωνίας (kefalh gwnia") refers to a cornerstone, not a capstone.

[21:42]  sn The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The use of Ps 118:22-23 and the “stone imagery” as a reference to Christ and his suffering and exaltation is common in the NT (see also Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11; 1 Pet 2:6-8; cf. also Eph 2:20). The irony in the use of Ps 118:22-23 here is that in the OT, Israel was the one rejected (or perhaps her king) by the Gentiles, but in the NT it is Jesus who is rejected by Israel.

[21:42]  ²⁸ sn A quotation from Ps 118:22-23.

[21:43]  ²⁹ tn Or “to a nation” (so KJV, NASB, NLT).

[21:44]  ³⁰ tc A few witnesses, especially of the Western text (D 33 it sy^s Or Eus^syr), do not contain 21:44. However, the verse is found in א B C L W Z (Θ) 0102 Ë^1,13 Ï lat sy^c,p,h co and should be included as authentic.

[21:44]  tn Grk “on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”

[21:44]  sn This proverb basically means that the stone crushes, without regard to whether it falls on someone or someone falls on it. On the stone as a messianic image, see Isa 28:16 and Dan 2:44-45.

[23:13]  ³¹ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:13]  ³² tn Grk “Woe to you…because you…” The causal particle ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated here for rhetorical effect (and so throughout this chapter).

[23:13]  ³³ tn Grk “because you are closing the kingdom of heaven before people.”

[23:14]  ³⁴ tc The most important mss (א B D L Z Θ Ë¹ 33 892* pc and several versional witnesses) do not have 23:14 “Woe to you experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour widows’ property, and as a show you pray long prayers! Therefore you will receive a more severe punishment.” Part or all of the verse is contained (either after v. 12 or after v. 13) in W 0102 0107 ˹³ Ï and several versions, but it is almost certainly not original. The present translation follows NA²⁷ in omitting the verse number as well, a procedure also followed by a number of other modern translations. Note also that Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47 are very similar in wording and are not disputed textually.

[23:15]  ³⁵ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:15]  ³⁶ tn Or “one proselyte.”

[23:15]  ³⁷ tn Grk “when he becomes [one].”

[23:15]  ³⁸ tn Grk “a son of Gehenna.” Expressions constructed with υἱός (Juios) followed by a genitive of class or kind denote a person belonging to the class or kind specified by the following genitive (L&N 9.4). Thus the phrase here means “a person who belongs to hell.”

[23:15]  sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.

[23:16]  ³⁹ tn Grk “Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing.”

[23:18]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing.”

[23:23]  ⁴¹ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:23]  ⁴² tn Or “you tithe mint.”

[23:23]  ⁴³ sn Cumin (alternately spelled cummin) was an aromatic herb native to the Mediterranean region. Its seeds were used for seasoning.

[23:23]  ⁴⁴ tc ‡ Many witnesses (B C K L W Δ 0102 33 565 892 pm) have δέ (de, “but”) after ταῦτα (tauta, “these things”), while many others lack it (א D Γ Θ Ë^1,13 579 700 1241 1424 pm). Since asyndeton was relatively rare in Koine Greek, the conjunction may be an intentional alteration, and is thus omitted from the present translation. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[23:24]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “Blind guides who strain out a gnat yet who swallow a camel!”

[23:25]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:26]  ⁴⁷ tc A very difficult textual problem is found here. The most important Alexandrian and Byzantine, as well as significant Western, witnesses (א B C L W 0102 0281 ˹³ 33 Ï lat co) have “and the dish” (καὶ τῆς παροψίδος, kai th" paroyido") after “cup,” while few important witnesses (D Θ Ë¹ 700 and some versional and patristic authorities) omit the phrase. On the one hand, scribes sometimes tended to eliminate redundancy; since “and the dish” is already present in v. 25, it may have been deleted in v. 26 by well-meaning scribes. On the other hand, as B. M. Metzger notes, the singular pronoun αὐτοῦ (autou, “its”) with τὸ ἐκτός (to ekto", “the outside”) in some of the same witnesses that have the longer reading (viz., B* ˹³ al) hints that their archetype lacked the words (TCGNT 50). Further, scribes would be motivated both to add the phrase from v. 25 and to change αὐτοῦ to the plural pronoun αὐτῶν (aujtwn, “their”). Although the external evidence for the shorter reading is not compelling in itself, combined with these two prongs of internal evidence, it is to be slightly preferred.

[23:27]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:27]  ⁴⁹ sn This was an idiom for hypocrisy – just as the wall was painted on the outside but something different on the inside, so this person was not what he appeared or pretended to be (for discussion of a similar metaphor, see L&N 88.234; BDAG 1010 s.v. τοῖχος). See Deut 28:22; Ezek 13:10-16; Acts 23:3.

[23:29]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:29]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “Because you.” Here ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated.

[23:29]  ⁵² tn Or perhaps “the monuments” (see L&N 7.75-76).

[23:30]  ⁵³ tn Grk “fathers” (so also in v. 32).

[23:33]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “the judgment of Gehenna.”

[23:33]  sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.

[23:34]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “behold I am sending.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[23:34]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:34]  ⁵⁷ sn See the note on crucified in 20:19.

[23:34]  ⁵⁸ tn BDAG 620 s.v. μαστιγόω 1.a states, “of flogging as a punishment decreed by the synagogue (Dt 25:2f; s. the Mishna Tractate Sanhedrin-Makkoth, edited w. notes by SKrauss ’33) w. acc. of pers. Mt 10:17; 23:34.”

[23:34]  ⁵⁹ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[23:35]  ⁶⁰ sn Spelling of this name (Βαραχίου, Baraciou) varies among the English versions: “Barachiah” (RSV, NRSV); “Berechiah” (NASB); “Berachiah” (NIV).

[25:10]  ⁶¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.